The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has at last inscribed Pimachiowin Aki, the decision being made at the 42nd session in Manama, Bahrain, June 24–July 4, 2018 (Decision 42 COM 8B.11, extracted from the full Committee decision document, pp. 193–197). The decision concludes with a fairly atypical note acknowledging the difficult road to inscription and the…

In their draft recommendations to the World Heritage Committee, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) supported inscription of Pimachiowin Aki on the World Heritage List (see Draft Decision 40 COM 8B.18, extracted from the full WHC Decision document for the 40th session). In…

This project was initiated by the Parks Canada Agency, which manages most of Canada’s World Heritage sites and represents Canada, as a State Party to the World Heritage Convention, on the World Heritage Committee. Parks Canada periodically updates the Tentative List of sites that have good potential to be nominated as World Heritage Sites and has recently…

Pimachiowin Aki is 33,400 sq.km. of boreal forest and home to five First Nations that, together with the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, are leading the nomination of the area as a Mixed Site (a site that is recognized for both natural and cultural values). First Nations of Pimachiowin Aki see themselves, and their cultural…

The original (2013) Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage nomination was deferred by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee (see decision 37 COM 8B.19). The Pimachiowin Aki Corporation worked with WHC advisors to develop a new nomination under new criteria. The nomination Evaluations have been released and are advising the World Heritage Committee to inscribe Pimachiowin Aki on the…

The Common Ground Research Forum is a consortium of researchers from the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg, municipal and First Nations leaders, and local community organizations. Between 2009 and 2014 the consortium conducted collaborative research to better understand and support cross-cultural collaboration and social learning in the Kenora region, including shared governance of…

The Pikangikum Cultural Landscape Documentation Guide is available from the Aboriginal Issues Press, University of Manitoba. The guide provides an easy-to-understand method for documenting natural and cultural landscape values using GPS.

Pimachiowin Aki is 33,400 sq.km. of boreal forest and home to five First Nations that, together with the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, are leading the nomination of the area as a World Heritage Site. The nomination document, excluding its extensive appendices, is available online at pimachiowinaki.org.

Keeping the Land — Cheekahnahwaydahmungk Keetahkeemeenaan: A Land Use Strategy for the Whitefeather Forest, prepared by Pikangikum First Nation and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. This ground breaking land use strategy is the first community-based strategy approved in Ontario and was developed under the guidance of community elders.

Elder Francis Orr of Fort McKay, explained how beavers build up their dams in the bush to reach their preferred foods, poplar and willow, even where there is no running water: in the spring, when the snow is melting, beaver will build a low dam to hold the spring runoff; for two more years, the…

In one of my plots in the Oakvale Green Community Gardens, pictured above, yardlong beans (Vigna unguiculata) grew very well in 2012 and formed a dense canopy over the small 4′ x 8′ plot. One morning i went to harvest beans and found a little brown bat resting, in underneath the bean canopy. At first…